Field Library · three illustrated guides

34 stories Australia left off the postcard.

Every map leaves something out. These three illustrated books are about what's missing: vanishings, ghost towns and the oldest things on Earth.

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34in-depth chapters

156illustrated pages

100+myths checked: true, false or disputed

Everyentry lists its sources

The books

Three books, one way of seeing Australia

You've seen the videos. These are the full stories: what really happened, what is still being argued about, and the questions nobody has answered. Every claim is checked against named sources.

Best value

The complete collection

All three books: Hidden Places, Ghost Towns & Lost Settlements, Deep Time Australia
One combined 156 page edition with bookmarks, searchable on any device
Sources listed on every entry, so you can check anything yourself
An "If you go" guide in every chapter, plus a ghost town field guide and a deep time timeline

A$55~~A$72~~Save A$17

Get all three

Places · 11 chapters · 50 pages

Hidden Places

11 places Australia would rather you didn't ask about.

A brass plate in a boab tree, thousands of kilometres from where Leichhardt vanished
Why three starving men missed their rescue by nine hours
The light that follows cars across the outback, and the scientist who thinks he solved it
A pilot's last words over Bass Strait: "It's not an aircraft."
38 white domes in the desert that watch a third of the planet

Get Places · A$24

$Cover of Ghost Towns & Lost Settlements$

Ghost Towns · 12 chapters · 56 pages

Ghost Towns & Lost Settlements

12 towns Australia built, then walked away from.

The town the government erased from every map
A priest, a hotel balcony, and a gold nugget thousands rushed to find
The mine a future US president ran at 23, and the families who left their furniture behind
Towns drowned under lakes that rise again in droughts
Where Britain tested atomic bombs, and who was living there

Get Ghost Towns · A$24

Deep Time · 11 chapters · 50 pages

Deep Time Australia

The oldest things on Earth are hiding in Australia.

A crystal 4.4 billion years old, smaller than a grain of sand
A 380 million year old fish with its heart still inside
Dinosaur footprints almost two metres long that only appear at the lowest tides
A three tonne marsupial that may have migrated 200 km every year
Fish traps older than the pyramids, built on a volcano's lava

Get Deep Time · A$24

Look inside

Real pages. Swipe through them.

These are actual pages from each book, exactly as they appear in the download.

Sample story page: Leichhardt's Vanishing

Sample page: timeline, numbers and true or false check

How every chapter works

The whole story, then the proof

Every chapter follows the same path, so you can open any book anywhere and know where to look.

The cold open

One moment that drops you into the story.

"The camp was empty. The men waiting for them had left that same morning."

The full story

From the first account to the latest research, with names, dates and figures.

What Leichhardt's brass nameplate reveals about where he went.

True, false or disputed

The most repeated claims, checked against the evidence.

"The Dig Tree still says DIG." False.

If you go, and what is still unknown

How to visit safely, and the question nobody has answered yet.

Did Father Long really see gold in 1898?

Questions

Before you buy

What do I actually get?

Illustrated PDF books of 50 to 56 pages each, with bookmarks and searchable text. Every chapter tells the full story of one place, with a timeline, key numbers, a true or false check and a visitor guide. The collection also includes a combined 156 page edition. They work on a phone, tablet or computer, and you can print them.

Who are they for?

Curious adults, road trippers and anyone who watches The Hidden Outbacks and wants the same stories in a form they can keep, check and take on the road.

Where do the facts come from?

Every entry lists its sources: government agencies, museums, peer reviewed studies and World Heritage listings. Where sources disagree, the entry says so instead of picking the most dramatic number.

How do I pay and get the files?

Checkout is handled by a secure payment provider. Your download link arrives by email straight after purchase.